25-year-old Karine Ahmed tries a new party drug called Meld. The next morning, she discovers she can eavesdrop on other people’s texts, emails, searches and photos – their entire digital lives are suddenly accessible to her, as easy as thinking. It’s fun – until she discovers that a dangerous group is using these abilities to control politicians and other powerful elites. Karine soon gets drawn into uncovering the truth behind Meld, where it came from, and why it exists.

Inspired as a child by sci-fi classics like Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Meld series creator David J. Fernandes wants to bring sci-fi back to its roots in examining the cultural ramifications of impending technologies. In an age where artificial intelligence is almost always portrayed as humanoid robots wanting to be human, or worse, wanting to kill us, Meld turns this idea on its head, blurring the line between human and machine. Meld is not about human VS machine but about what may happen when human and machine merge so closely they are no longer distinguishable from each other.

With breakthroughs in biotech, nanotech, quantum computing and viral gene therapy all advancing at breakneck speed, the possibility of ingestible nanotechnology extending our consciousness into the digital realm is real.

“Meld explores what it might be like for us to extend our consciousness into the digital age. Gone are clunky interfaces, finger swiping and voice commands. The computer is now built-in – as easy as thinking, and exponentially more dangerous,” says Fernandes.

Meld captures the zeitgeist of current political themes surrounding privacy, elections, big data, and the blackmailing and manipulation of politicians through their digital indiscretions. Meld is a sci-fi / mystery / thriller that appeals strongly to genre fans.

“One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all.” – Stephen Hawking

CURRENT STATUS
The Meld trailer went live on Facebook on March 1 and immediately shot up to over 26K views and over 2400 interactions (likes, comments, shares). The Meld team are currently pursuing partners to create a full season of the show on a streaming or broadcast platform.

David and Meld Co-Producer Sarah Kapoor recently co-directed feature film, The Bad Mother. The film has worldwide distribution through Random Media and is slated for a US theatrical run in fall of 2017. David’s last short, RE-WIRE premiered at Fantasia Film Festival and won Best Sci-Fi at the Hamilton Film Festival in 2012. Screen Anarchy’s Todd Brown hailed RE-WIRE as “far and away one of the better sci-fi shorts of the year.”